The Blind Side: Movie Review

The Blind Side: Movie Review

Rating: 5/10
Cast: Sandra Bullock, Tim McGraw, Quinton Aaron, Jae Head, Kathy Bates
Director: John Lee Hancock
So the film that netted Sandra Bullock an Oscar on the same weekend as she scored a Razzie is finally upon us.
Based on a 2006 book, The Blind Side is the story of Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron), a towering gentle giant who's from the wrong side of Memphis. Homeless, apparent family-less and with no prospects at all, Michael's life is changed when his path one day accidentally crosses with Sandra Bullock's brassy, Southern sassy Leigh Anne Tuohy.
The Tuohys are from the right side of town; Leigh Anne's husband owns a heap of Taco Bells and with their Christian way of life and ethics, they never want for anything.
So in the true spirit of altruism, the Tuohys take in Michael and begin to offer him some hope - and some of that hope gives him the belief he needs to play American football.
I know exactly what The Blind Side is aiming for - it has aspirations to be inspirational and is clearly pitching purely and simply at uplifting. But sadly, personally it didn't strike the chord.
Sandra Bullock is good as Leigh Anne but I couldn't shake the feeling having seen other Oscar nominated performances that she didn't quite deserve to walk off with the statuette - she does ballsy and headstrong with a heart well but is it Oscar winning? Well that's for debate I guess.
The supporting performances are good - including Quinton Aaron who does a reasonable job of portraying the down on his luck kid in need of a break.

I can see why The Blind Side did well in America and I can see how it will resonate with some here but I didn't really feel like I was watching something that was told originally; it follows a very set formula and is entirely predictable in its story - although there was a hint of something a bit more of a moral at the end (which was left unexplored), sadly The Blind Side didn't give me the feel good factor that had been promised.